PRE-WORK: Identify if you are exempt for the Basic Skills Licensure exam via previous SAT or ACT scores. Learn how to take this step here.If you are exempt please take a screenshot of your exempt scores and have that saved on your computer in advance of the webinar. If you are not exempt please email Lauren at lauren.weekes@teachforamerica.org.

PRE-WORK:Download Slackhere (there is also a mobile app!). This is the communication platform we use during Onboarding to build community and stay in touch

missed the intro to systems webinar? WATCH it BELOW:

Password: ChiNWI2018

March Actions

Use/Save Your New TFA Google Apps ID

Friday, 3/2 | Within 48 hours of confirming your offer to join the corps, you should receive an email from TechSupport@teachforamerica.org with your new Google Apps ID/Gmail account (@tfacorps.org).

This new email address will enable you to access a wide variety of resources later this year, including regional and institute information. Please make sure you have saved that email’s information and you are able to log in by taking the following steps:

Log in towww.teachforamerica.organd click on your name in the upper right corner to view your profile and find your Google Apps ID.

Navigate to “TFA Apps” in the upper right corner and choose the Google Apps for Education icon. You will be redirected to a new page where you can log in with your TFA Google Apps ID and the same password you use to log in towww.teachforamerica.org.

You can also sign in to your Teach For America Google account at www.google.com, using your Google Apps ID and the same password you use to access www.teachforamerica.org.

For more resources on your TFA Google Apps account or for related tech support, visit the Google Apps Support Center. If you have questions, please reach out to tech support through this form.

take the onboarding info survey

In this survey, you'll share a bit more about yourself, your preferred method of contact, working and learning styles, and some facts. We'll be using the information shared here as we gear up for Hiring and Summer Training. [Here's the raw link to copy/paste into your browser should the hyperlink not work: https://goo.gl/forms/Q2JLqnr9yNVYCJDa2]

Complete the Accommodations Request Form

Friday, 3/9 | Teach For America strives to offer reasonable accommodations for corps members with disabilities during institute. Please use the form linked below to let us know if you have a disability that will impact your housing, mobility, medically-dictated dietary needs (i.e., diabetes, severe allergies), engagement with instructional materials during institute, etc. Our Disabilities Accommodations Office and summer training staff will follow up with corps members who request an accommodation. Please note that you may need to complete and upload additional medical documentation after you submit your request.

In order to submit an accommodations request, we ask that you complete the 2018 Accommodations Request Form by Friday, 3/9 so we have ample time to follow up on the needs you indicate in the survey. While we ask that corps members complete the survey by this deadline, the survey is open to corps members until May in case additional accommodation requests need to be submitted.

UPDATE YOUR RESUME TO YOUR GOOGLE FOLDER

Friday 3/16 | In preparation for our upcoming interview experiences (more information to come), we want to ensure that we are taking steps to get you “interview ready”. The first step is to revise and submit your resume. Please update/revise your resume using this resume guideand upload the draft to your folder using the naming convention (LastFirst_Rough Draft Resume) by March 16th.

INTERVIEWING WITH CULTURAL COMPETENCE REFLECTION

Friday 3/16 | In preparation for our upcoming interview experience, we’ve already prepared our resumes and now we’d like to set you all up with an opportunity to reflect on what it means to interview with cultural competence. We know that many of you are well aware and strive for cultural competence but want you to spend some time thinking about what this might mean during the interview experience.

By Friday, March 16th, please review the following document (LINKED!) and submit a word document of your reflections (questions included) in your Google Folder. Please use the name LastNameFirstName_CCReflection. Additionally, be on the look-out for an email from Ryan directly with more information regarding the upcoming interview experience and how to prepare.

Create Your State Licensure Account

Sunday, 3/18 | Create your Illinois State licensure account, known as your ELIS Account. If you are teaching in Northwest Indiana, please take no action.

Why? Your ELIS account is Illinois' online licensure portal. Although this action only takes 3 minutes it is incredibly important. Your ELIS account is where you will be entitled for your license and where your test scores will populate. You cannot teach without this account. Please make sure when you are registering that you enter all your demographic information correctly (first, last, SSN). Any misspellings, or wrong information, will lead to a delay in your license in August 2018.

send your basic skills exempt score to isbe

If you are not exempt, or are teaching in Northwest Indiana, please take no action.

Why? In order to be entitled for licensure the State of Illinois must see that you have met your basic skills requirement and/or are exempt from taking that exam. When you submit your scores to ISBE they will show up in your ELIS account automatically (this is why creating that account is so important). It takes ISBE a very long time to process your scores in your ELIS account, between 2-6 months, this is why we ask you to take this step very early on.

Cost: There is a cost associated with this step ($37-$54). If you have questions about up front licensure costs please review your transition guide here. We know the cost of licensure is not small, if you have concerns about covering this cost please reach out to Lauren via a direct message in Slack and we will work with you on an alternative timeline.

April Actions

Sunday, 4/1 | Register for yourcontent exam(s) and upload your test date/time screenshot to your Google folder.Please select a test date no later than April 23rd 2018. Locate registration information by clicking on your specific content exam from thelisthere. You do not need to be in Illinois or Indiana to take your exam. You will be able to select a testing location near you (international locations are available).

Study Materials: You can locate information on your specific exam, study materials and more in content test sectionhere. On average corps members that study for 5 hours between when they register and when they test have a 98% passage rate.

Cost: There is a cost associated with this step ($122-$198). We know the cost of licensure is not small, if you have concerns about covering this please reach out to Lauren via a direct message in Slack and we will work with you on an alternative timeline.

30 day rule: In Illinois and in Indiana if you fail your exam you must wait 30 days to retest. All exams must be passed by July 15th 2018 (some exceptions apply if you are teaching in Indiana). For example: if you test by February 25th you will have 5 attempts prior to the deadline of 7/15/18 (Feb. 25th, Mar. 25th, Apr. 25th, May. 25th, Jun. 25th). We backwards plan our registration and test deadlines to ensure you have the maximum amount of attempts possible.

Need an extension? If you would like to apply for a registration/test date extension please do sohere.

if applicable, take the act

Saturday, 4/8 | If you are not exempt from the Basic Skills exam you will take the ACT on this day (unless you have decided to test at a later date). For more information on Basic Skill resources, information and test prep see the Basic Skills section here. If you are exempt from the Basic Skills exam make sure you show folks love in Slack. This is a tough test and folks taking it work really hard to study and prepare, let's let them know we have their backs!

Begin the FBI Background Check Process for AmeriCorps

Friday, April 20 | Make sure to read the AmeriCorps Background Check process walk through. Complete the Criminal History Check Authorization Form by Friday, April 20. By law, in order for Teach For America to run background checks, you have to give us permission. This is required to join AmeriCorps. The email was sent to your inbox on Wednesday, March 28 from AmeriCorps.Chicago@teachforamerica.org.

Register by Friday, April 27. Complete by Friday, May 18 I Once you complete your Criminal History Check Authorization Form, Steven will send you the details on how to register for the FBI Fingerprint check. The costs are covered by TFA, but you are responsible for setting your appointment and getting to and from the appointment. You must register by Friday, April 27 and have your appointment completed by Friday, May 18.

Sunday, 4/23 | Take your Content exam(s). Upon completion you will receive a print out indicating an immediate Pass/Fail status, this is known as an. If you passed upload a picture of that to your Google folder. If you did not pass send Lauren a direct message in Slack and she will connect with you on next steps. You will receive your "Official" pass (indicating your specific score) via email within 4-8 weeks.

Passing Scores: In Illinois a passing score is 240/300 (or 80%). In Indiana your score is scaled. For each test, the score is based on your performance on all sections of the test and is converted to a scale that ranges from 100 to 300, with a score of 220 representing the passing score for the test.

May

COMPLETE THE SUMMER TRAINING INFO SURVEY

Friday, May 4 | In order to best prepare for and support you in your transition to Chicago-Northwest Indiana Summer Training, we need to collect some information from YOU. Welcome to the Summer Training Info Survey. Some of the questions in this survey are logistical and straight business-like while others aim to get to know you. It will take you approximately 30 minutes to complete AND you will be required to select a summer living model. In order to be prepared to select a living model, you should allocate time to thoroughly review the Summer Training Manual. This manual contains all the details about many aspects of Summer Training. YOU MUST COMPLETE THIS INFO SURVEY BY MAY 4.

Tuesday, May 15 |Complete the Chicago Public Schools TFA Student Teaching Registration. This form is required for ALL Corps Members to be able to teach Summer School this summer. In the survey, use Christina Fissori as your TFA Coordinator. Her email is christina.fissori@teachforamerica.org. Summer School dates will be June 25-July 26 and you can put TBD for your School Placement information.Please note for the CPS Registration Process, Teach For America will have opportunities available to you at Registration Day to complete a TB Test and CPS Background check (this is in addition to your AmeriCorps Background check due to CPS' specific policies). If you have any questions, reach out to Steven on Slack.

Sunday, 5/27 | Upload your the PDF of your official IL content test passing score report to your google folder and (if applicable) update your Relay application. You should have received this PDF directly from the ILTS via email 2-4 weeks after taking your exam. Please review the calendar below to learn when your scores should have been returned:

Test Date Score Return

4/16/2018–4/29/2018 5/11/2018

4/30/2018–5/13/2018 5/25/2018

5/14/2018–5/27/2018 6/8/2018

Your official score reports are required in order for you to be entitled for your license. If you received an extension for taking your content exam please review the additional score report return dates here to learn when you will receive your report.

note: If you already know you will be teaching in Northwest Indiana this step does not apply to you. To learn more about your unique testing process click here.

SPOT CHECK THAT ALL LICENSURE ACTION ITEMS ARE COMPLETE

Sunday 5/27 | Take a step back and make sure you are on track with all licensure action items. It is critical that you have an understanding of what you have completed and identify if anything is missing. Missed licensure action items will cause a delay in your license being entitled and could prohibit you from being able to teach on the first day of school.

TEACHING IN NWI? If you were accepted to the NWI Pilot and/or were assigned to exclusively teach in NWI most of your license items will take place May-August. You can read more about those steps here.

ALREADY CERTIFIED? If you are transferring your license from out of state Lauren will be following up with you to begin that process once your have officially graduated and received your license in your current State. Read more here.

RECEIVED AN EXTENSION ON YOUR CONTENT EXAM? Make sure you have noted your extension timeline and have a plan to register and test.

June

CHECK THAT ALL action ITEMS ARE COMPLETE

Friday 6/4 | Take a step back and ensure all action items are complete. It is critical that you have an understanding of what you have completed and identify if anything is missing. Failure to complete these actions could delay the start of your corps commitment and in some extreme cases, you may be required to defer until the 2019 corps. If you have questions or concerns reach out to an onboarding team member via slack immediately.

TEACHING IN NWI? If you were accepted to the NWI Pilot and/or were assigned to exclusively teach in NWI most of your license items will take place May-August. You can read more about those steps here.

ALREADY CERTIFIED? If you are transferring your license from out of state Lauren will be following up with you to begin that process once your have officially graduated and received your license in your current State. Read more here.

RECEIVED AN EXTENSION ON YOUR CONTENT EXAM? Make sure you have noted your extension timeline and have a plan to register and test.